DMP Mutual Support Thread - Part 12

mrsdann

I have been robbing Peter to pay Paul for a while now and then to top it all I split from my partner and my wages decreased by a considerable sum each month. This has had a huge knock on effect on my ability to afford my debt payments.
To cut a long story short I currently have unsecured debts of 38K. These are through a bank loan, 3 credit cards, 3 catalogues, a large overdraft and a debt to DWP for an overpayment many moons ago. Currently my minimum payments on all but the overdraft are equal to nearly £1200 per month. I have been paying my loans and credit cards and then using the cards to pay for food and bills etc.
Anyway the constant worry is affecting not only my mental health but also my well being. (High blood pressure/anxiety/depression on top of a heart condition):( I have now taken the first step and looked at my finances through step change and they advised a DMP. Reading through some of this thread though has now left me wondering what my first steps should be.
I have opened a new bank account to transfer my wages and bills into as my loan and 1 credit card is with my current bank.
What should I do now? Currently due to how I have been juggling I have only defaulted on one account. When I change my wages into my other account this will also default the overdraft.
Should I be sending letters before starting a DMP with Step Change?
Should I stop my payments and offer token payments?
Do I wait for all accounts to default and build an emergency fund with my disposable income?
Where do I start???? I feel so confused !!!
:(:undecided

headbattered

Hi there newbie here, Please go easy on me.

I've been in a DMP with Payplan for about 4 years and have 4 creditors. 1 of my creditors is Cabot and they have offered me in writing a discount for the settlement of my debt which they purchased from the Yorkshire bank about a year ago. The offer is considerable lower than what i owe to the 2 accounts i have with them and i was very interested. This would be leaving me with 2 remaining creditors with a lot less to pay.
I managed to speak with Payplan on Friday and they have said contact Cabot directly and ask if they would reduce my offer a little further as i have been given some money from my father which falls just short of their offer. This i did and they asked me numerous questions about my health record and why i could not work etc etc. They then said they would reduce the offer to the amount i offered and sent me an email which was near identical to the written offers they sent in the post.
My questions are is an emailed offer of a settlement OK?
It doesn't have a name on the bottom apart from saying Your sincerely Cabot?
Can they still come after me for the remaining balance?
Can they sell the remaining balance?
I just want to know before i pay them, oh and they said i have to pay it by the 27th Feb or they will not accept it. They also want to take a card payment over the phone.

They are ringing me back tomorrow afternoon any advice would be great

Many Thanks

sourcrates

headbattered wrote: »

Hi there newbie here, Please go easy on me.

I've been in a DMP with Payplan for about 4 years and have 4 creditors. 1 of my creditors is Cabot and they have offered me in writing a discount for the settlement of my debt which they purchased from the Yorkshire bank about a year ago. The offer is considerable lower than what i owe to the 2 accounts i have with them and i was very interested. This would be leaving me with 2 remaining creditors with a lot less to pay.
I managed to speak with Payplan on Friday and they have said contact Cabot directly and ask if they would reduce my offer a little further as i have been given some money from my father which falls just short of their offer. This i did and they asked me numerous questions about my health record and why i could not work etc etc. They then said they would reduce the offer to the amount i offered and sent me an email which was near identical to the written offers they sent in the post.
My questions are is an emailed offer of a settlement OK?
It doesn't have a name on the bottom apart from saying Your sincerely Cabot?
Can they still come after me for the remaining balance?
Can they sell the remaining balance?
I just want to know before i pay them, oh and they said i have to pay it by the 27th Feb or they will not accept it. They also want to take a card payment over the phone.

They are ringing me back tomorrow afternoon any advice would be great

Many Thanks

Hi,

In a nutshell, you need a written document from Cabot stating that the offer they have accepted is in full and final settlement of the account, and that neither they, nor there agents, will chase the remaining balance, and that you are freed from all liability.

Only pay them when you have such a letter in your possession.

[Deleted User]

headbattered wrote: »

Hi there newbie here, Please go easy on me.

I've been in a DMP with Payplan for about 4 years and have 4 creditors. 1 of my creditors is Cabot and they have offered me in writing a discount for the settlement of my debt which they purchased from the Yorkshire bank about a year ago. The offer is considerable lower than what i owe to the 2 accounts i have with them and i was very interested. This would be leaving me with 2 remaining creditors with a lot less to pay.
I managed to speak with Payplan on Friday and they have said contact Cabot directly and ask if they would reduce my offer a little further as i have been given some money from my father which falls just short of their offer. This i did and they asked me numerous questions about my health record and why i could not work etc etc. They then said they would reduce the offer to the amount i offered and sent me an email which was near identical to the written offers they sent in the post.
My questions are is an emailed offer of a settlement OK?
It doesn't have a name on the bottom apart from saying Your sincerely Cabot?
Can they still come after me for the remaining balance?
Can they sell the remaining balance?
I just want to know before i pay them, oh and they said i have to pay it by the 27th Feb or they will not accept it. They also want to take a card payment over the phone.

They are ringing me back tomorrow afternoon any advice would be great

Many Thanks

Hi, headbattered, and welcome to the thread:hello:

We're a very supportive group so don't worry that we won't go easy on you. Sometimes we don't always hear what we hoped we'd hear but all advice is given with the very best of intentions and usually from personal experience:T

I too have a debt with Cabot, they bought mine from RBS about 6 months ago. It is my smallest debt (around £2500) so I might try to target that first for a F&F settlement. I haven't offered them one yet and they haven't written to offer me a settlement figure either. I'm curious to know if their original offer to you (which you rejected) came as a result of you making overtures to them in the first place or whether it came out of the blue.


Also, if you don't mind me being nosy:o, please could I ask what the approximate % discount was that they originally offered and the one that they finally accepted? I don't want to go in too high and have my hand snatched off;)


Good luck with getting this debt finally out of the way and good luck too on the rest of your DMP journey:beer:. Keep posting any queries you may have, there's usually someone who can help sort them out.

MK-4

ploppy57 wrote: »

We were the same....I was 57 when we started DMP....OH is younger though.....and we never had savings at all.:o

Thanks for your reply. Everyone on this forum are just so helpful.
Thought my problems were unique but seems that they are nowhere near 'unique' at all.
Just at the start of my debt free journey motivated by all the positive and experienced people on this forum.
Thank you all.

BalanceBy50

Hi everyone,

I have recently changed my username as i was worried i could be identified by my other and I was an infrequent poster - hopefully will do more! I am on a self manged DMP and have received settlement offers on 2 debts held by R*bins*n W@y of roughly 25 - 30% of amount owing. I have been cheeky and counter offered with amounts of just over 20%. They have written to me asked me to confirm my source of funds and would need this need to be paid back?

The answers are my brother and yes they will need to be paid back and i have agreed to do this monthly. Should I tell RW this or can anyone suggest a better response?

I have also posted in the full and final settlement thread but that doesn't seem to be as frequented as much as this lovely thread. All posters are a true inspiration

Many thanks

sourcrates

BalanceBy50 wrote: »

The answers are my brother and yes they will need to be paid back and i have agreed to do this monthly. Should I tell RW this or can anyone suggest a better response?

Many thanks

Tell them whatever they want to hear, that its a gift from a family member, that`s all they need to know.

They are asking so that they do not fall foul of affordability rules.

BalanceBy50

sourcrates wrote: »

Tell them whatever they want to hear, that its a gift from a family member, that`s all they need to know.

They are asking so that they do not fall foul of affordability rules.

Thanks Sourcrates - i wondered if they thought i could pay more as currently paying only £1 a month!

headbattered

Hi All, Further to my post i would just like to thank all those that replied.

Now to the nitty gritty.

The first thing i did this morning was to contact Payplan, they were actually very helpful and having forwarded the updated email offer that i received from Cabot for Payplan to see the advisor who had worked for Payplan for 12 years said it was fine and there was nothing to concern myself with and it was too good an offer to let go. He said Cabot are ok to deal with and he has never had any issues with them.
That reassured me a little but i wanted the correspondence to be done via email and to be followed up with a letter. i got them to put certain things in the email offer which (sourcrates) pointed out in his reply to me (Thanks).

This is part of the offer email:

"We can confirm that once your accounts have been settled, Cabot Financial will not sell the remaining balances, nor will its agents or subsidiary companies take any further action to recover or enforce the debts"

I then forwarded this email to payplan and then spoke to them to see what they made of it.
They were more than happy with it and i suppose it made me feel better so i paid them.
I cannot remember who asked but i paid around 25% of my balance back..

Onwards and upwards and thanks for the support, still a little bit to pay my other 2 creditors but its buttons compared to what i have just sorted.:T

Thanks

January2015

headbattered wrote: »

Hi All, Further to my post i would just like to thank all those that replied.

Now to the nitty gritty.

The first thing i did this morning was to contact Payplan, they were actually very helpful and having forwarded the updated email offer that i received from Cabot for Payplan to see the advisor who had worked for Payplan for 12 years said it was fine and there was nothing to concern myself with and it was too good an offer to let go. He said Cabot are ok to deal with and he has never had any issues with them.
That reassured me a little but i wanted the correspondence to be done via email and to be followed up with a letter. i got them to put certain things in the email offer which (sourcrates) pointed out in his reply to me (Thanks).

This is part of the offer email:

"We can confirm that once your accounts have been settled, Cabot Financial will not sell the remaining balances, nor will its agents or subsidiary companies take any further action to recover or enforce the debts"

I then forwarded this email to payplan and then spoke to them to see what they made of it.
They were more than happy with it and i suppose it made me feel better so i paid them.
I cannot remember who asked but i paid around 25% of my balance back..

Onwards and upwards and thanks for the support, still a little bit to pay my other 2 creditors but its buttons compared to what i have just sorted.:T

Thanks

Well done. 25% settlement figure is a great discount. Good to know that Cabot will consider going that low.... I have an account with Cabot so may think about negotiating F&F soon :j